In the End
by LoyalTheorist
Summary: Three years as a human being will change you. Nobody knows this better than Apollo. One-shot. Takes place after Trials of Apollo.


_I feel very annoyed_

 _Also, pretty different. Wrong, almost._

 _Well, who cares, I'm Apollo!_

* * *

Apollo, God of the sun, poetry, archery, music, healing, and some other things, was bored. That is to say, _I_ was bored. I simply wasn't feeling like myself.

Tomorrow was the summer solstice. I would be driving the sun across the sky, but the simple task did not excite me as it had before.

Not that I didn't enjoy being a god again. After three years of being a teenaged mortal boy named _Lester Papadopoulos,_ being me again has got to be the best thing in the world, I feel...empty, like the bowl I just finished sculpting.(Normally, sculpting isn't my thing, but hey, who cares?)

My sister has noticed. She says she-oh, there she is now.

"Apollo," she says, in that commanding, bossy voice I've always hated. "I am worried about you."

I love my twin (she's my other half, and stuff), but what I am about to say may not reenforce that statement.

"Go away, Artemis. You should be doing your thing, with your sleigh."

"Yes, and I would be, if it weren't for the fact that you're acting like a totally not handsome dorkasaurus."

Anyone who knows either me or Artemis could easily see that this was a trap. And, despite my amazing knowlage of my sister (Not myself so much at the moment.) I fell for it.

"Hey! I'm...You're...,"

"Us, Apollo, you can't say you're handsome? This is serious. I'm going to go...do a thing."

And then she left. I knew she was going to try to find something to cheer me up, because, and don't ever let her know I said this, but she is actually an okay sister.

That is when Athena chose to pay me a vist. Athena and I have never really gotten along well. We just haven't. And yet now I must admit Athena would make the most difficult of adversaries, being both strong and intelligent. I realized I should probably make an effort to be on her 'good side' (if she has one).

"Apollo, what did you learn?"

Because of course she would ask that. Athena, being the favorite child of Zeus, had never been punished by him. She was clueless. And if I know anything about Athena, it is that she does not like being clueless.

Unfortunately, I was clueless as well. What had I learned? I was pretty sure it wasn't nothing. I had learned sonething, right? I hoped I had. If I hadn't...well, I don't actually know what would happen.

"I don't know?"

"Are asking me if you do not know? This. This is the god of intellectual arts." She sighed.

She was mocking me. I had gotten enough mocking from Meg McCaffrey.

"I...learned...about...humans?"

My struggle to find an answer to her question was amusing her, I could tell. When I said 'humans' the corners of her mouth twiched.

"Do you mean to tell me you have learnt nothing?"

"No! I just...don't know how to describe this to you...I-,"

"Has the cat got your 'silver' tongue?"

"No, I...yes?"

"Sol Apollo, you will never cease to both confuse and amaze me. When you manage to wrangle your cat, tell me."

Then she was gone. Athena is weird.

So I sat and played with my lucious hair. Golden, like the cage of a body that I had considered the one thing I wanted to get back to during those three years. A gilded cage, but a cage, nonetheless.

You human beings are so free. You go wherever you want, do whatever you want. For the entirety of your short existence, you are your own person, unique, with no predetermined path to follow. You don't _have_ to be anything.

This is what I was thinking about that night. During the night, I don't really have much to do, obviously.

The hours ticked by slowly, as nothing much happened.

Then Hermes walked in. I've had pretty much everyone come visit me this week, except Hermes. Some to congratulate me on making it through my trials (Arty), some to tell me they wish I'd died (Hera), and some to stare at me in awkward silence (Athena. Twice.)

"Hey, Apollo, glad you aren't dead, I have a package for you." Hermes said, very quickly. "If you could just sign here...," he handed me a piece of paper and a pen, and once I had signed it, he gave me the package and left. (A few golden drachmas heavier, as I would descover later.)

Inside, there was a half-burnt stick, and a short letter.

 _"Apollo, may I ask you to come to my hearth? The hearth does not move, I am afraid._

 _-Hestia"_

So I went. A gentleman such as myself doesn't keep a lady waiting.

Hestia stood up was shorter than I was, but not by much,and something in her eyes made me believe dhe wasn't about to tell me about how much she wished I'd died.

"Apollo."

"Yes?" Something told me this would not be like any of the things anyone else had done.

"Go. Do what you must. I will not ridicule you, even if the others choose to. Be yourself, Apollo. Not who they say you are, but who you really are."

Then she shut up and wouldn't talk to me, because she'had to attend to the hearth'.

So I went home and I made a decision. It was difficult, but I made it. 'Cuz I'm awesome.

* * *

That summer solstice, Percy Jackson opened the front door and found a boy,somewhat lanky, with curly brown hair, dark eyes, and a cocky grin.

"No, really. _Why?"_

* * *

 **I...am actually liking this. It's got to be the longest single chapter I've ever written, and I feel good about the research I did.**

 **As it turns out, when Hera, Athena, Posidon, and Apollo plotted to overthrow Zeus, and he found them out, Zeus punished everyone** but **Athena. He just like, shrugged his shoulders and went "You are my favorite child, so I won't punish you."**

 **Anyway, I was considering turning this into a series, but I have too many places it could go.**

 **So do you want...**

 **A story that follows the gods and goddesses.**

 **A story that drags Percy and Annabeth and people back in.**

 **A story that follows the people in Trials of Apollo.**

 **A story that fetures an entirely new cast of demigods.**

 **Which will you pick? 1, 2, 3, or 4? I'll be waiting...Meow.**


End file.
